Chronicles of Albion
Prologue
At the begining of the game, all players gathers in circle and reads “Generally known” part of their characters.
Then, bard Taliesin (one of the organisers) reads this as a prologue:
These are the most important events which took place in the Albion Kingdom.
As far as human memory goes, Albion Island has belonged to the Celts. But in 87 AD, it was conquered by Romans.
Romans left us in 407 AD. They left, but Christianity stayed.
Albion fell apart into many small kingdoms: Orkney, Cornwall, and others. There was a man who claimed to be an overlord. Vortigern. But he was such a tyrant, other lords rebelled against him. Vortigern asked for help from the Saxons and gave them land in Wales. So Saxons created a kingdom called Benoic.
A great general called Uther Pendragon didn’t like Saxons. He killed Vortigern and almost chased Saxons out so they stayed on a very small piece of land. One of Pendragon’s men, Ban, had become a new king of Benoic.
Uther Pendragon desired a wife of another king so he started a war with him, killed him in a battle, and married his wife. That’s how Arthur Pendragon was born in 480 AD.
Uther Pendragon ruled as an overlord of the whole Albion until his death in 496 AD. Arthur sat on the throne. But many lords saw an opportunity to get independence and started a rebellion. The first civil war had sparkled and Arthur won in it within one year.
At 497 AD, he married Guinevere. Soon after, he declared that every noble baby born in May had to be drowned. And so it happened but another civil war had started because of it and was suppressed in the same year. Yet, Saxon King Claudas used the opportunity to reclaim the kingdom of Benoic. He killed King Ban, took his country but immediately swore loyalty to Arthur and helped him in was, so he could keep the kingdom.
Albion experienced years of peace and abundance. The Round Table had been established – order of chivalrous knights.
Since King Arthur didn’t have any offspring, it was announced in 505 AD that Arthur nephew Gawain of Orkney will become the next king if Arthur will die without a descendant.
In 510 AD, the great hero came to the court – Lancelot du Lac and his brothers, lawful heirs of the Benoic kingdom. Soon after, Merlin the Wizard, son of Satan, a man who was advising to the Vortigern, to Uther Pendragon as well as to the king Arthur, disappeared without a trace.
In 514 AD, king Arthur sentenced his wife Guinevere to death for betraying his trust, but she was saved by a group of rebellious knights – Lancelot du Lac, his brother Bors of Benoic, Hector, and Balin the “Ill-fated”. Guinevere was supposed to be burnt at the stake but Lancelot and his allies charged the place of execution, freed her, and killed many innocent knights, among them brothers of Gawain of Orkney. Rebels fled to the castle belonging to Balin the “Ill-fated”. Gawain led the siege but never managed to conquer the castle. Arthur accepted a new wife. It is said she looked just like Guinevere, and that’s why she was nicknamed a “New Guinevere”.
In 516 AD, the “New Guinevere” felt sick and die soon after. Arthur gave amnesty to Guinevere and all rebels. He accepted Guinevere back as his wife and all rebels as his vassals.
In 517 AD, sir Lamorak, a Knight of the Round Table, disappeared. No one ever found out what happened to him.
In 525 AD, king Claudas offended the queen Guinevere. A war between King Arthur and Benoic is started. Lancelot du Lac led the campaign.
In 527 AD, the Benoic was conquered and Claudas fled to Rome. Yet it wasn’t Lancelot, but Lionel, his oldest brother, who had become a new king of Benoic.
In 528 AD, a young man called Galahad of Corbenic came to the court. He claimed to be Lancelot’s son and even though he was only 15, he defeated Lancelot in a duel. He was knighted the next day.
On the same night, there was a revelation of the Holy Grail – a secret relic containing the blood of Jesus Christ – in the Camelot. A holy light appeared and the angels’ choir started to sound in the Dining Hall, and a young maiden walked through it holding a holy relict, a goblet of Christ blood. Then they all disappeared without a trace. Almost all knights swear to go on a quest to find it and deliver the Holy Grail to Camelot. Only a few didn’t give that promise – Arthur himself, Mordred of Orkney, and Lionel of Benoic.
Now, in 530 AD, the Holy Grail is still not found. But there are several things happening.
- King Arthur had accepted as a refugee a Tristan of Cornwall and the Isolda of Ireland. It is said these two are lovers even though Isolde had been promised to Mark of Cornwall, Tristan’s uncle, and Arthur’s liege.
- King Mark of Cornwall is coming to the court. You can guess why.
- Claudas, King of Benoic in exile, is coming to the court with an important message from Rome.
- Elaine of Corbenic, the mother of Galahad, is coming to the court.
- Lancelot had returned to the court and he brought a Merlin with himself.
- Two mysterious ladies who called themselves Ladies of Lake joined the court. One of them, Vivian, is known as Lancelot’s foster mother. The second of them is a pure mystery and no one knows why Arthur is letting her stay in the castle.
- King Galeholts had been invited by Arthur for the meeting of kings.
- Meliodas, self-proclaimed King of Thieves, is demanding to be accepted at court. His army of vagabonds camps before the gates.
480 AD.
- Uther Pendragon kills king Gorlois (father of Morgause, and Morgana), marry his wife, and unifies England
- Arthur is born
496 AD
- Uther dies and Arthur becomes a king
- 13 lords start a rebellion, defeated in the same year
497 AD
- the 2nd rebellion starts and is defeated in the same year. King Lot is killed in the battle.
510 AD
- Lancelot du Lac joins the knights of the Round Table
514 AD
- The Queen is proclaimed to be an imposter and to be burned at stake. Lancelot saves her and starts the war
- King Arthur takes the real Guinevere
516 AD
- The new queen dies and Arthur accepts back the old queen and makes peace with Lancelot
525 AD
- A war against Claudas of Benoic. Lionels became the King of Benoic.
528 AD
- Galahad comes to court
- Start of the Holy Grail Quest
530 AD – now
Benoic lies in Walles and it used to be a rather deserted realm belonging only to the animals and hunters. Then, Saxons came, took control of the land, chopped down the trees, fertilized the land, and gave it its name: Benoic. It was in the time of Vortigern.
But when Uther Pendragon became a king and overlord, he chased out all Saxons and made his general, Ban, the king of Benoic. Saxons still hold a small area in Wales and continue to fight with Ban of Benoic over the land they considered theirs. Claudas was their king.
During the 2nd civil war, Claudas attacked fiercely Ban of Benoic and defeated him, and killed him in the field. He also married his wife, took care of Ban’s sons Bors and Lionel and he swore loyalty to Arthur. That’s how he remained a king.
Kingdom | King | Streng of an army |
---|---|---|
Rome | supports King Claudas | 2 |
Lointaines | King Galeholt | 2 |
Vagabonds | Meliodas | 1 |
Ireland | supports King Mark | 2 |
Cornwall | King Mark | 2 |
Benoic | King Lionel | 2 |
Gore | queen Morgana | 1 |
Orkney | queen Morgause | 1 |
Corbenic | queen Elaine | 0.5 |
Logres | Supreme King Arthur | 5 |